Ajay Fonagara, 22, of Gants Hill, said getting into music has given him more confidence after struggling through school due to a learning disability.

With his second song about to be released, he said he is optimistic about the upcoming year and hopes to establish himself as an artist.

Ajay said: “I lacked confidence and I had bullying problems at school with people calling me names at primary and secondary school. I never had any friends really because of my dyslexia.”

He said that people at school made little time or effort to get to know him and did not understand why he found studying difficult.

“I went into the music industry as I want people to know me and respect me,” Ajay said. “Kids didn’t understand me or even try to understand me. Now it’s going well and I’m looking to do different events.”

He started performing at social events when he was 14 years old and by 17 was working in bars and pubs which really helped his confidence.

His first song, titled Tick Tock, talks about time going faster as we get older and not fitting in everything we want to do in life.

He said: “Time’s going fast and if you are running out of time you cannot get everything done.”